I would like to put in a quick plug for the opportunities that abound for native English speakers! When I said I was going to move to Italy and "capitalize on my mother-tongue," I think some of you thought I was crazy. True, when you are in the U.S.A. surrounded by fluent English speakers, it seems strange to imagine a place where that would be a novelty. But the truth is, there are so many places in the world you can go to simply capitalize on speaking English!
I have been in Naples for one month now and already have more offers for work than I can manage! Since very few people here speak English, a native English-speaker seems to be a hot commodity. Everyone wants to learn and improve their English, so I am getting paid for basically having conversations with people!
As I mentioned before, I have started teaching English at an independent school in Naples (for adults). I am doing both private lessons (basically an hour of conversation) and group instruction. In addition, once a week, I teach youngsters at an after-school program in a suburb of Naples. After posting a few advertisements online, I have had several inquiries for private lessons and just got a call this morning about teaching Business English at a company in town. I am very excited about getting some varying kinds of teaching experience, but at the moment I am trying not to overload myself too much. I want (need) to learn Italian too!
This should be encouragement to a few of you who have considered going abroad to teach English! There are so many opportunities out there that will allow you to see the world and learn more about it! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how to look into teaching English abroad.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
Day Trip to Caserta
One great thing about living in Naples is its close proximity to a plethora of interesting towns and sites. I was able to visit a few nearby attractions when I was here in November - the ruins of Pompeii, a town completely destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 67 A.D., and Maiori, a little town on the Amalfi Coast. I look forward to traveling more around the Campania region, where Naples is settled, on my weekends and free days.
For our first excursion together, my boyfriend and I spent last Sunday afternoon in Caserta, a town about 45 minutes north of Naples. Caserta has a large palace and sprawling palatial parks and gardens, where we enjoyed the unusually warm Sunday afternoon. I've posted pictures at http://www.AndreaOdyssey.shutterfly.com.
Although the sky was slightly more overcast on the Saturday before, we nevertheless had a fun day exploring the area of Capodimonte in Naples. We first visited a street market, where I purchased two shirts and a pair of pants for less than 10 Euros combined! Next we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant/ pizzeria, where a 3 course meal (including fried ice cream!) amounted to 15 Euros. After lunch, we made our way to the park and wooded areas of Capodimonte for a nice dip into nature.
While Naples is a fun and lively city, little breaks from the chaos are perhaps what will help me remain somewhat sane while I am here! The city is unbelieveably crazy at times -- traffic and motorbikes whizzing past you as you push your way through the busy sidewalks, the scream of an ambulance passing by every few minutes, the confusion of trying to navigate through the maze of streets and small alleyways, etc. This is much of what fills my days -- scenes that are almost so surreal that I have to laugh when I remind myself that I chose this plight. Napoli is both beautiful and ugly, exciting and tiring, intriguing and terribly frustrating.
Lucky for me, there are years' worth of weekend get-aways nearby when I need a break from reality!
For our first excursion together, my boyfriend and I spent last Sunday afternoon in Caserta, a town about 45 minutes north of Naples. Caserta has a large palace and sprawling palatial parks and gardens, where we enjoyed the unusually warm Sunday afternoon. I've posted pictures at http://www.AndreaOdyssey.shutterfly.com.
Although the sky was slightly more overcast on the Saturday before, we nevertheless had a fun day exploring the area of Capodimonte in Naples. We first visited a street market, where I purchased two shirts and a pair of pants for less than 10 Euros combined! Next we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant/ pizzeria, where a 3 course meal (including fried ice cream!) amounted to 15 Euros. After lunch, we made our way to the park and wooded areas of Capodimonte for a nice dip into nature.
While Naples is a fun and lively city, little breaks from the chaos are perhaps what will help me remain somewhat sane while I am here! The city is unbelieveably crazy at times -- traffic and motorbikes whizzing past you as you push your way through the busy sidewalks, the scream of an ambulance passing by every few minutes, the confusion of trying to navigate through the maze of streets and small alleyways, etc. This is much of what fills my days -- scenes that are almost so surreal that I have to laugh when I remind myself that I chose this plight. Napoli is both beautiful and ugly, exciting and tiring, intriguing and terribly frustrating.
Lucky for me, there are years' worth of weekend get-aways nearby when I need a break from reality!
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Working Woman
After being (happily) unemployed for a little over a month, I have good news: I am reentering the working world! I met with the director/ owner of a small private English school in Naples on Friday, and I begin "training" Monday to be an English teacher. I am extremely excited about this opportunity! I believe it will be a good learning experience and has the potential of opening up many other professional doors.
My boss (an Italian married to an American) has been running the school and teaching all the classes himself. As soon as I spend some time training and sitting in on classes, I will take some of the classes from him. Then, when we recruit more students (we will begin an advertising push shortly), I will take most of those as well. In addition, he does some side work (for example, occasionally offering some intensive business English classes), which I may be able to get involved with!
It will be a great way to help me get "settled" here in Naples (and, of course, start bringing in some money) while still giving me a flexible schedule. In addition to my Italian class, which is 3 hours each afternoon, I will probably teach 3-4 hours at the school. Some of those may be in the evenings, so I may still be able to sleep in a little, get to the gym (hopefully!), and occasionally meet my boyfriend at the university for lunch before I officially "start" my day.
I really feel like things are coming together! Getting this job was more of a confirmation to me that I am supposed to be here -- it happened surprisingly easily (it was only my first real attempt to find a job). And through my Italian classes, which cost almost nothing for a university level class, I am quickly learning the language and making some great friends. I feel really good about how my life here is settling out right now. :)
My boss (an Italian married to an American) has been running the school and teaching all the classes himself. As soon as I spend some time training and sitting in on classes, I will take some of the classes from him. Then, when we recruit more students (we will begin an advertising push shortly), I will take most of those as well. In addition, he does some side work (for example, occasionally offering some intensive business English classes), which I may be able to get involved with!
It will be a great way to help me get "settled" here in Naples (and, of course, start bringing in some money) while still giving me a flexible schedule. In addition to my Italian class, which is 3 hours each afternoon, I will probably teach 3-4 hours at the school. Some of those may be in the evenings, so I may still be able to sleep in a little, get to the gym (hopefully!), and occasionally meet my boyfriend at the university for lunch before I officially "start" my day.
I really feel like things are coming together! Getting this job was more of a confirmation to me that I am supposed to be here -- it happened surprisingly easily (it was only my first real attempt to find a job). And through my Italian classes, which cost almost nothing for a university level class, I am quickly learning the language and making some great friends. I feel really good about how my life here is settling out right now. :)
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